Member Profile

1. Tell me a little about yourself - where you were born, your parents, your family, your education, your work, your passion?

 I was born in Poland in 1981. Poland was still a socialistic democracy.  I do remember this system and how it changed into a capitalistic democracy in 1989. It was a very fascinating time and very unique. What I learned from that time was that systems can change in a very peaceful way when the system and the people are ready to experience change. 

Back in Poland, my parents were elementary school teachers. In Chicago, my dad is a construction job estimator. 

I have two brothers and a sister on the other side of life. 

I was educated in Poland and in the US. Most of my elementary and high school education was in Poland and some elementary and college in the US. I like schools. Schools and libraries are very fascinating places for me. They are the temples of knowledge. 

I have been a Catholic priest for the last 8 years and have worked in the Chicago area. I like being a minister and working with different people and different age groups.  My work entails creating personal relationships with people and helping them to go beyond themselves.  I am very interested in knowing G-d* and experiencing him through imitating Jesus Christ and sharing that with others. 

My passion is religion, spirituality and philosophy. I am interested in all the main five religions. I like to look at the similarities and differences in doctrine but especially in practice. Regarding spirituality,  I am fascinated with monasticism and nature. I find solitude and the desert to be very spiritual experiences. Philosophically, I am a phenomenologist. I like to look at one described object from many different perspectives and learn about it. 

2.  What is your spiritual practice? 

I am a Roman Catholic. So my Spirituality is Christ centered. However, I found Buddhism to help me understand what it means to be Christ and to go deeper into my own experience of self and the biblical notion of being an image of *G-d. Watching “The Living Buddha” and reading “Living Buddha, Living Christ” by Thich Nhat Hanh put me on the path of realizing that practices of other religions can help me in my own spiritual journey. So now I am trying to discover what it means to be Christos – another Christ and have a Buddha – awaken nature. As a Christian theologian, I am interested in Judeo-Christian Catholicism. Without Judaism, we cannot be Christians. 

3. What drew you to ZLMC and how has it helped? 

I have done some sitting meditation with different Buddhist monks. However, I found that I like the simplicity of Zen the most. Perhaps having family in Japan helped me to be more attracted to that school of Buddhism, too. Also, when I met Robert Althouse and he told me that as a teacher he looked at and taught Zen from the philosophical and psychological point of view, I knew I found the Zen Center to be for me. I like Zen non-dualism. I think this is a very healthy way of teaching the unity that I desire to experience. I find Buddhism to be a very practical way of life with a teaching that is more interested in life here on earth than life after this life. Besides, I believe Jesus was more interested in experiencing the Kingdom of *G-d here on earth than on the other side of life. On this level, Buddhism and Christianity teach the same. Buddhism and mindfulness have helped me with my prayer life and self understanding. 

*G-d – Jewish way of writing the word for the Master of the Universe. Why this way? The goal is to respect the name of the One who is beyond our understanding and the only thing we can do is to participate in His reality. On some level, Zen helps me to experience and live in that reality.